Clans and Families
of Ireland and ScotlandAppendix II - A List of
Surnames

There are over a thousand families
listed here. The names are in their Anglicized form, that is, the most generally
representative forms in English. Several categories of names appear, including names of
the families covered in Part II, by ethnic group; important variant forms of names found
in Part II; and names of families which are direct branches of one of the families dealt
with in Part II, as opposed to more distantly related tribal branches. Included in
this latter category are blood-related septs of the Scottish clans. (Scottish clan septs
can be of two kinds; firstly there are the male-line branches, the identifiable of which
are covered here, but then secondly there were those not related in the male line, yet who
nonetheless followed the chief of the clan, adhering to him for protection. This reflects
Scottish clanships slightly different development in this regard, as discussed in
Part I.)

Finally, it should be noted that in some cases more than one distinct
sept bore the same name in English or Gaelic or both, and when one or more of such
families are dealt with while others of the same name are not, confusion may arise. To
avoid confusion, those not dealt with are listed here but marked "IVL"
(indeterminate, various localities), which generally indicates that these families simply
did not fall within the main Gaelic tribal sphere, either because they resided outside the
Gaelic area, or else because they did not form a cohesive group with the level of real
political significance common to the tribal and clan families listed in Part II, hence
their exclusion from further consideration. They are included to show, for instance, that
all ONeills are not necessarily of the great Ulster clan, or ONeill might be
the name of a minor family or of some other clan, or even of a family with no historical
or tribal significance. In this way I have cross-referenced family names throughout the
Gaelic area, so that accuracy might be maintained.

For the genealogist, connection with a particular family bearing such
an often-used name must be made on a territorial basis (e.g., if your Maclnerney
great-grandmother was from County Clare, then that shows her to be Dalcassian, and not of
the famous Roscommon family of hereditary abbots or

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